Aussies are outraged over a photo of a caged dog in direct sun on the back of a ute.
A woman leaving the busy Noosa Village shopping centre was horrified to come across what she said was a ‘panting’ German Shepherd in a cage on the back of a Toyota ute.
She shared a photo of the dog crouching behind the metal bars on a 30C day.
It appears someone was sitting in the driver’s seat of the car.
‘To the not nice person in Noosa Village carpark today with their boat on in 31 degree heat, I hope someone locks you in a cage thats too small and leaves you in the sun,’ she wrote on Facebook.
A woman leaving the busy Noosa Village shopping centre was horrified to come across a panting German Shepherd caged in the back of a Toyota ute
‘Horrible people should not have dogs!’
The woman went on to explain that ‘one minute’ after she took the photo, a woman walked out of the shopping centre and got in the ‘nice air conditioned car and they drove off’.
Some social media users lashed out at the dog owner’s saying that it made them feel ‘physically sick’.
‘The owner should go to jail for animal cruelty,’ one woman said.
‘I would have taken it to the vet if the cage was unlocked. Would you leave your child locked up in your car on a hot day?’ another wrote.
One woman who identified herself as an ’emergency vet nurse’ said she sees dogs die of heat stroke all the time.
‘It’s no joke… they literally cook from the inside out,’ she said.
The woman went on to explain that ‘one minute’ after she took the photo a woman walked out of the shopping centre (pictured) and got in the ‘nice air conditioned car and they drove off’
‘It can be a long slow process and just because you get them to the vet doesn’t mean we can fix them, yet we try, and can cost thousands and can takes days/weeks for them to actually pass away or recover.’
A few people defended the owners, arguing that because someone was sitting in the ute while it was parked, the dog wasn’t left unattended.
“You can see there is a man in the driver’s seat. Why didn’t you speak directly to him about it. Either call the police and report him or speak to him,” one woman wrote.
Others said nothing should be assumed from a single photo.
It is illegal in all n states to transport dogs unrestrained on the back of utes or trailers.